Rebuff Locket
by Ungulateman
Summary: Edea is in grave peril, but when the rest of her friends come to save her, things take a dark turn. But there is always hope. Spoilers for chapter 2. Ringadea. T for themes.


The dank air of Florem's underbelly was so thick Ringabel could choke on it. The half-fog, half-mist of the city's depths acted like a shroud over the evening, casting everything into an obscured blur. He and his companions came to a crossroads, lost in the mists.

"Where did that incorrigible man take Edea?" he asked, his usually carefree tone making way for the slightest sign of panic. He'd been abducting women for days, possibly weeks now, and she'd volunteered to trick him into revealing his lair. 'Red', that disturbingly skilled charmer, had somehow gotten the best of their friend, and led her into these murky alleys with nary a clue to his hideaway.

"Can you smell that?" Tiz commented, taking a series of short breaths through his nose. "It smells like the perfume that man was wearing!" He pointed into the opaque clouds. "That way!"

"Something is very wrong," Agnés whispered, his other ally in his search for Edea. "I do not know what…but something in this place is simply wrong."

Ringabel tousled his hair half-heartedly. "Don't worry, Agnés," he replied. "Edea is a strong woman. She can look after herself." _At least, I hope so_, he added mentally.

0o0o0

The smell was intoxicating. Edea knew she was supposed to be doing something, something important, but the smell overpowered everything and wrested control from her conscious mind. The reins were in his hands now.

A small silver locket sat unnoticed around her neck, lost in the scents and the sounds. If she knew it was there, she gave no signs of it, and he made no moves to take it away.

Fumes filled the laboratory as he prepared to make use of his latest tool. They never screamed, he reflected unhappily; no matter what he did to them.

0o0o0

The door burst open as Ringabel and Tiz forced it out of its lock, the relatively flimsy metal of the bolt breaking before the door itself. "Edea!" They shouted in unison. Agnés followed shortly behind, Airy scattering faint light into the cavernous workshop that Red called home.

As they made their way past rows of ominous-looking bottles and arcane machinery, they found what they were looking for, in front of an enormous vat of roiling purple liquid. Edea sat in a daze at its edge, Red smirking at the trio that had so rudely entered his domain.

"Oh, it looks like we have a little band of white knights, come to save the day," he snapped, an insincere smile slapped upon his features. "And who's this? Oh, it's you, the little charmer who wanted to learn my secrets. Well…" He gestured to the walls of equipment, technology and magic alike littering his lab.

"It's all in the technique, my friend," he began, his tone sickly sweet, "and in the technology."

"Technology!?" Tiz shouted incredulously.

"But of course," Red continued. "You take this little compound I've developed, pheramore, and you mix it with a natural ingredient that I'm sure you're familiar with - nidaphyx."

Ringabel was aghast. Nidaphyx was the secret of the flowers; the addictive substance that had driven nearly every woman in Florem to madness over obtaining the blooms that contained it. "And then what?" he asked cautiously. _Tell us more, 'Red'. Tell me how to stop you._

"Well, it makes the most wonderful hallucinogen. It's poisonous - probably - but it works. A little spray on the collarbone and I have women hanging on my every word. Easily manipulated into doing anything. I. Want."

The trio gasped in shock. "How could you do such a thing!?" Agnés snapped aggressively, an uncommon rage overtaking her.

He simply smirked again. "Why, to make Florem easy pickings for the Eternian forces, of course. Did your companion here not recognise me; me, Fiore DeRosa, commander of the Bloodrose Legion?"

Tiz gulped. "Of course…the entire country is run by women. You could simply bewitch every person in a position of power into doing your bidding!"

Red laughed, a lilting, mocking laugh that made them flinch. "Oh, you poor naïve fools. It's much more elegant and beautiful than that.

Pheramore is difficult to produce, but very easy to extract. Every woman I control comes back here, and once I'm done with them they go back into the vat, and I get my pheramore back."

Ringabel only just supressed the urge to vomit. "Harvesting women like they're crops, using them like tools! You're no charmer; you're simply a monster!"

He rolled his eyes, wrinkling his nose as if Ringabel was the disgusting one. "Oh, please. Women are nothing but tools to be used for our own devices - you of all people should know that, little ladies' boy."

He turned dramatically. "I'm afraid I can't let you live, though; after all, we can't have anyone finding out I've captured the wind vestal and the runaway daughter of a Council member. Now have at you!"

The world blurred into combat, Fiore mixing thunder magic and swordplay into a deadly dance that forced them all on the defensive. Whenever they struck back, he seemed able to heal himself with ease, and no matter what they threw at him, he never seemed to tire.

Edea sat in a daze, barely aware of the fight around her. The silver locket around her neck shone in the reflected light of the red mage's lightning bolts. She blinked, and held the trinket up. She opened it up, and saw a picture of her beloved inside it.

Fire burned through her veins as the locket's magic purged the venomous, sorcerous charms that had been placed on her. She drew her sword and locked eyes on Fiore DeRosa's back.

"Hggk!" were his only words as the blade struck home, running his chest through. Collapsing to the floor, he shuddered briefly, then lay still.

"Edea!" the trio shouted as one as they swarmed her. She smiled broadly as they embraced, happy to be with her friends once again.

And unnoticed by those around her, a tiny portrait of Ringabel floated away, its purpose served and destiny fulfilled.

0o0o0

Author's Note: Bravely Default is a pretty cool game, guys. Go play it.

This was just a short idea that came to me after reading the Rebuff Locket's description and doing the Red Mage fight.

Speaking of which, yes, the boss actually is this much of a PUA / date rapist in the game. It's really weird to see important life lessons being delivered by Japanese RPGs, but 'PUAs are horrible people who dehumanise women' is a pretty good one.

Thanks for reading; please, leave a review!

Ungulateman


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